Blog/2009/15thAugust
I ONLY DO MY ‘SEXY’ LOOK 4 THE CAMERA.https://web.archive.org/web/20090830235112/http://marinaandthediamonds.com/2009/08/ “I am proud, because I do not have to sell my body to sell records”- Shakira. Shakira - She Wolf official video music by andrexfriends Have sat down and watched her new come-back video. Feel disappointed and very down. I am long-time Shaki fan. Have all albums ( even 18-track rambling spanish ones) and felt fairly terrified when watched this vid. This post is not a critique- anyone can see the video is well made. It’s more a product of my curiosity to find out why the majority of major female pop stars in the world are all resorting to making soft-core porn videos in replacement for music videos. Seems as if they are all becoming more desperate as they get older, each one trying to “out-sex” each other whilst the male population sits back laughing as its get a full view of their coochies for free. I am interested in why ’sexiness’ has become the primary expression in females and why this is being loosely defined as ‘pro-feminism’ by some. Felt SO angry when I first watched this video. Oddly ‘riled’. Like had been cheated of something. Got up from my laptop and took a walk around my bedroom. Wondered: “Am I over reacting? What has bugged me so much about this? Is it a crime to be sexual and express your sexuality? She is a beautiful woman, so why shouldn’t she flaunt it!”. Sat down and forced myself to watch it again. I admired her. I thought she was so beautiful. I thought some of the choreography was incredible. I was also cringing, embarrassed and uncomfortable. I understandd that her objective here was to represent female sexuality in its primitive, animalistic form- a form that many women are fearful of. But the reason why I loved Shakira originally was for her strength, self respect and intellect. She obtained worldwide success just by being her very original self. She struck me as an artist who was aware of her sex appeal but felt enough harmony with it to not push it in peoples faces in a trashy way. Fun Fact: Shakira’s arse is shot, in detail, 24 consecutive times in her new video ‘She- Wolf’. Of course she isn’t desperate. Arguments may be that: 1. She is “celebrating the female form” It’s good to exhibit the beauty of the female body. There is nothing shameful about nudity. But the line between cheap and sexual is fine. The purpose of the flesh-coloured suit is to evoke sexual imagery and encourages viewers to imagine her naked as she slips into different positions. Personally feel this does not relate to ‘celebrating female beauty’ but more ‘pornville usa’. If she had not been wearing the flesh suit, we would have seen her private parts 7 different times. That is all. Come to think of it, the main thing that bugs me about this video is not actually the nudity nor sexual content- It is the fact that it isn’t smart. Everything is obvious, dumbed down to the most base level so that even an amoeba can enjoy it. It has been scripted to communicate with individuals who have no imagination and need instant gratification in order to be inspired. The video totally vulgarises what she once stood for, as a woman and as an artist, by using the most base forms of sexual imagery in order to shock, appeal and gain the attention of as many people as possible. I don’t think this is her. 2. “She was always sexy in her videos, she is just wearing less clothes now. What’s the difference?” The difference is the same between a girl who will sleep with any guy who tells her she’s beautiful and a girl who will not. 3. She is “empowering herself and other women by expressing her sexuality” The majority of the choreography in this video replicates pole dancing and stripteasing. She is set in a cage, swinging on bars and writhing on the floor. She is responding and conforming to a fairly ‘male’ set of fantasies here. It is hardly ‘empowering’ if you are dancing in a cage for men. Women who protest that this IS empowering, you are merely taking this stand so as not to feel weak, to secretly ‘prove’ that you can compete with ‘the boys’. By declaring this to be a fair representation of a woman’s ideal of sexuality you are proving that you are strong, uncontrolled and uninfluenced by male desires and therefore, empowered. You are not. The fact is that, though videos and ideas and movements from the likes of Madonna, Britney, Gaga, Shakira etc have been interesting and even helpful to the female expression of sexuality, it’s all getting really old (for me). Pole-dancing and faux-stripteasing or (wait for it) playing the unique ‘I’M A GOOD GIRL BUT DEEP DOWN I’M REALLY DIRTY + NAUGHTY!!!1!’ role is an out-dated and boring way of expressing your sexuality. If everyone gets naked then there is quite frankly nothing left to see. How many more pole-dancing videos do we possibly need? Everything feels so desperate- Shakira does not need to resort to such base levels as putting her finger in her mouth like a weird baby, 6 times. These women are so powerful and talented and all we’re shown is who can push the ’sexy’ boundaries the farthest. A famous woman’s crotch is hardly ‘naughty’ after the 10th time. .. Sometimes feel like if we all just said: “Hey! Women love sex. So do men. They’re both allowed to and it is not a sin. There is nothing shameful or embarrassing about it, so let’s stop treating it as if it is some forbidden, awful subject” then maybe we wouldnt have all these trashy videos circulating around that make my skin crawl. Have personally gone through periods over the past 5 years of being sexed up then getting angry and sexing myself down purposefully, going to the extent of making myself ugly and fat to avoid male attention, then swapping back over again and again. I sometimes struggle to decide what is good / bad sexuality and am still not sure how to interpret attention. I know there is no ’should/ shouldn’t’ in this game but I don’t feel at ease with the topic as there are so few examples around in mainstream pop that do not use sex regularly. Then I see vids like Shakira’s and think ‘what the hell is wrong with me?’ I have been down this route e.g. typical sexed up pop route years ago and felt deeply awful and cheap, so have written this post with experience in mind. Doubt I would have such a strong opinion on the subject today if I had not had certain experiences that made me think “No, I don’t want to be like this anymore”. Hard to form opinion when every boy around you is salivating and making lame ‘gender equality’ quips to justify the video so I would really love to hear your opinions on this. It’s a fascinating topic for me. Do all men fall for these vids? Are all pop videos going to be pornos by 2023? How much is too much? Am I an idiot…? As usual, all ranges of replies welcome- But remember, no freedom of speech allowed. Those who say ‘yes, you’re an idiot’ will be sent to Alaska till the end of time to teach Sarah Palin politik. Perhaps main point here is that I have just realised have not even mentioned the actual song itself once in the whole of the above. FYI, it’s good.